TIFF 2015: LEGEND Review

Legend is a movie that aspires to be a great gangster epic and in some regards it is, but this is not the gangster epic in the same vein as something like Goodfellas. It is more a representation than an adaptation, which is fine because it works for the characters at play and never fails to be thoroughly entertaining. Director Brian Helgeland delivered a straightforward, but rousing biopic of Jackie Robinson two years ago in 42, but has written films such as L.A. Confidential and Mystic River in his twenty-seven years in Hollywood. With Legend, Helgeland tests his directorial prowess by taking on a much bigger scope and a more complex story that features a diverse set of personalities. Each of these things having to be managed and pieced together in a way that feels coherent and there are times you can almost feel the structure creaking under it's own weight. Near the end of the second act the film almost gives way to a full on tsunami of varied tones and plot strands falling in on themselves and flooding out to leave behind nothing more than puddles of once strong and vibrant storytelling methods as well as the exceptional double performance of Tom Hardy. Lucky for Helgeland, he hired an actor with as much gravitas and ability as Hardy allowing him to pull off this stunt and leave the audience ruptured in his showing to the point we don't so much care about what else is going on around him. We acknowledge the given circumstances the real-life people fell into, but we're all just watching to see what Hardy does with the situation.

New Trailer for LEGEND Starring Tom Hardy

Brian Helgeland has written a number of high profile scripts that range from the acclaimed L.A. Confidential and Mystic River adaptations all the way down to Ridley Scott's 2010 attempt at reviving Robin Hood, but he has only directed a handful of features with the most recent being the straightforward, but solid Jackie Robinson biopic 42. With his latest project in which he serves as both the sole screenwriter and director Helgeland seems to be looking to make his biggest splash yet. With Legend, the writer/director has enlisted Tom Hardy (who just seems to be unstoppable at this point) to play both Ronald and Reginald Kray who were identical twin gangsters that essentially ran the London crime scene in the 1950's and 60's. With the second trailer for the film Universal is really beginning to sell this film as a must-see and the potential for greatness seems to be off the charts. With the success of Mad Max: Fury Road Hardy has become a more visible star than ever before and Legend seems perfectly poised to be that definitive performance that forever puts him on the map as one of the greats. If you've been watching a variety of movies for a few years now you already know the true talent that Hardy is, but based purely on the footage we're seeing here he's seemingly getting ready to make sure the rest of the world knows who he is. The film overall looks to be a massive gangster epic with a top shelf supporting cast that includes Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Christopher Eccleston, Chazz Palminteri, Tara Fitzgerald, and Taron Egerton. Legend opens everywhere on October 2nd. Check out the trailer after the jump.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD Review

In episode two of the Marvel adventures this year we are given the extended look at what was easily the riskiest piece of completing The Avengers. Thor is by and large a fantasy character with a fair amount of fun to offer and fortunately director Kenneth Branagh was able to elicit those shining qualities the first time around to assemble a Thor film that while not necessarily overly impressive offered a fine enough preliminary set-up for the Norse God that was able to find just the right tone to make him credible rather than the goofy, over-indulgent mess it could have easily turned into. I credited much of the success of things being done the best way they could on 2011's Thor to director Branagh and a cast that was more than capable of delivering lines about bifrösts and frost giants with Shakespearean prestige. All of this is still in tact in the much grander, more expensive and thankfully more ambitious sequel, but Branagh has been replaced by Game of Thrones-helmer Alan Taylor and there is a new threat in the world that will of course make cause for our titular hero to jump back into action. While I am completely enthralled with seeing films overlap and build on one another we have now reached a point in our culture where we are taking in these films with such rapid consumption that we don't give them the individual focus they sometimes deserve. We are excited to see Iron Man or Thor back on screen again, but more than that we are looking forward to what will come next that the current film might hint at. I touched on this briefly in my Ender's Game review, but it is all the more relevant in the Marvel universe. The reason this has become a problem is that while these are still trying to be individual stories there isn't enough of a connection from film to film besides short mentions or familiar character pop-ups here and there. That and the fact these films aren't willing to commit to any tragedy they allow the audience to assume has occurred. Director Taylor and his film are not to blame for this issue as Thor: The Dark World is a more than worthy sequel and is generally a lot of fun to watch, but it also doesn't do much more than add evidence to the pile that Marvel is content with quantity over quality.

First Trailer for THOR: THE DARK WORLD

Thor was always the one Marvel character I was concerned with prior to the release of his first solo film. I enjoy Kenneth Branagh and his work, but the trailers for the first film were somewhat nerve-inducing as it looked as if it could teeter on the edge of cheesy and fall in very easily. Thankfully, it turned out to be a rather solid film and one that, while underwhelming in some aspects, delivered on what it needed to do. Director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) has taken over for this sequel though and its clear that darker tone of his former work has seeped into the realm of Asgard. I was happy to hear that this next step in the Thor story would take place more in space and while the trailer doesn't give much of an indication as to how much that will be it certainly lets us in on the aspects of the story that deal with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and a possible love triangle between her, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Sif (Jamie Alexander). With barely a glimpse of main antagonist Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) where he provides a possible way for Portman to Channing Tatum her way out of this sequel via G.I. Joe. I hope this isn't the case as I'd like for there to be more than just Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts as the lone better half of The Avengers. Still, there are several other shots of Portman on Asgard that could come at any point in the film though it feels like this trailer is completely taken from the first twenty or so minutes of the movie given a few action scenes. In mentioning the action, it looks phenomenal here with a few epic set pieces to be sure and a different style to it that looks to be more intriguing and more along the lines with the personal style of the titular character. We also get a nice glimpse of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) near the end which is made all the more intriguing by how he might play into this story. Thor: The Dark World also stars Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins and opens in 3D on November 8th. Hit the jump to check out the trailer.